A worldwide community photographing and learning about wildlife
Project Noah Nature School
Ecnolagria grandis
This dark segmented larva was about 20 mm long.Its body was covered with short dark bristles. The thoracic legs were clearly visible. Head was small and dark.
Spotted in large numbers on sandy walking tracks in a park. Seen mostly near ant nests; some appeared to be emerging out of the nests. (Cardinia Reservoir Park)
The adult beetle can be seen here
https://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/14...
It seems that larval to adult transformation takes about 3 months.
I recall observing many of these adults also around ants nests. Research indicates that the Iridomyrmex species of ants were observed attending to the larvae of these beetles probably feeding off the secretions of the larvae. Interesting !
Family: Tenebrionidae
Spotted on Oct 22, 2019
Submitted on Jan 22, 2020
No Comments